Dressing Thoughtfully

I've just finished reading Linda Grant's book The Thoughtful Dresser, a most interesting read,especially to anyone with the even the slightest interest in clothes and appearance. Don't we all want to look our best most of the time? I should have thought that most people think about they look at least once a day, and some of us much more frequently than that, without it being the be-all and end-all of our existence. Although I have never spent large amounts of money on clothes, shoes etc, I have always thought about how I present myself to the world - that is at the very least clean and tidy, and at most extremely well-groomed. As my mother used to say, soap is cheap, so there is no excuse for being dirty, and as for tidy, it doesn't take too much effort to make sure clothes are clean, ironed and mended when necessary. Most people seem to be able to manage this, and even in very poor parts of the world, people make an effort to keep themselves and their clothes clean, to indicate they still have their human diginity. I don't think appearance is all, but how we present ourselves to our fellow human beings is important, not just for them but for ourselves too. Looking at people in the supermarket, or wandering along the local high street, very few just seem to have thrown on the nearest thing; many have obviously given a bit of thought as to how they want their fellow beings to regard them. The majority of people in this country, men women and children, seem to give at least a modicum of thought to their appearance and although the result may not be fashionable, it is at least clean, tidy and reasonably presentable.

As for beige, that typical middle-aged women's colour, I never wear it, as it does abso;utely nothing for me - my sister told me so about a decade ago, when I mistakenly bought a beige jumper and cardigan. The jumper, too high a round neck, went to the charity shop and the cardigan I dyed jungle green and still wear from time to time, as its a nice lightweight merino wool and looks good with some brown jeans and a tee-shirt.